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Water

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss water, one of the most remarkable of all molecules.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss one of the simplest and most remarkable of all molecules: water. Water is among the most abundant substances on Earth, covering more than two-thirds of the planet. Consisting of just three atoms, the water molecule is superficially simple in its structure but extraordinary in its properties. It is a rare example of a substance that can be found on Earth in gaseous, liquid and solid forms, and thanks to its unique chemical behaviour is the basis of all known life. Scientists are still discovering new things about it, such as the fact that there are at least fifteen different forms of ice.

Hasok Chang
Hans Rausing Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge

Andrea Sella
Professor of Chemistry at University College London

Patricia Hunt
Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Imperial College London.

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Available now

43 minutes

Last on

Thu 28 Mar 2013 21:30

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

READING LIST:

Philip Ball, H2O: A Biography of Water (Phoenix, 2000)

Hasok Chang, Is Water H2O? Evidence, Realism and Pluralism (Springer, 2012)

Felix Franks, Polywater (MIT Press, 1983)

Felix Franks, Water: A Matrix of Life (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2000)

Broadcasts

  • Thu 28 Mar 2013 09:05
  • Thu 28 Mar 2013 21:30

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